by Levi Houtman

Being a student-athlete is one of the most stressful yet rewarding things ever. The number of difficulties you face while attempting to maintain several different activities at once is overwhelming. Being apart of any sports team requires practice every school day of the week, additional training, game days, meeting with coaches and more.

Student-athletes have much more to prioritize than the average student. Not only do athletes have to attend their classes as well as practice, but they also have to try and maintain a social life, and sometimes even a job. I was able to sit down with Marcus Igo, a senior at Hudsonville high school, on how he manages his time wisely. He participates in cross country, the dive team, school plays, is active at his church and even manages to work roughly 20 hours every week while maintaining a 4.16 GPA. 

A lot of students usually don’t work a job while participating in sports, due to not having the time to work or their schedule just doesn’t allow them to.

“I’ve learned to utilize time,” Igo said. “Most of the time at lunch or in between classes I do my homework.” By completing his homework at school he’s able to not be interrupted during sports or to worry about it after getting out of work.

“Managers and coaches are a really big factor when it comes to allowing me to have a flexible schedule to work around,”Igo said.

“That man is insane, his work effort and dedication to sports, work, and everything else he does is something I’ve never seen before,” Igo’s coworker and friend Matt Pietrzak said. “I can see why people would envy him.”

Igo’s grind doesn’t stop in the classroom, and even outside of it he is always putting in 100% effort and dedication to whatever task is at hand.

One of his managers Emilie Kurnat stated, “It’s really insane and it’s cool that he does that, because most people can’t. It’s something to be proud of.”

Igo shows others that if you are in a sport during high school, you don’t have to designate all of your time towards it. You are still able to maintain an insane GPA, work during school, and also be involved in your community.